El Centro de la Raza, et al. v. State
Washington Supreme Court
428 P.3d 1143 (2018)
After Washington voters approved a 2012 law creating charter schools exempt from many regulations governing other public schools, the state supreme court struck it down in 2015 for improperly diverting education funds constitutionally reserved for common schools; the legislature then enacted an amended Charter School Act addressing that funding defect. Organizations including El Centro de la Raza (plaintiffs) sued the state (defendant), seeking a declaration that the amended act was facially unconstitutional; the trial court upheld the act, and the case reached the state supreme court.
Whether a state constitution's requirement of a general and uniform public school system permits charter schools that receive no local tax dollars and provide the same general, uniform educational content as other public schools.